Described herein is a container for transporting bulk material in combined (multimode) traffic, in particular on railways, roadways and ships, with a rectangular outer structure having standard dimensions and an open steel frame construction, which carries at least one hopper for holding the bulk material that tapers like a funnel and can be emptied via at least one floor flap. Also described is a container wagon.
Special self-emptying funnel wagons are usually used for bulk material transport operations with gravity-assisted unloading in rail traffic. The lower region of the latter exhibits respective sliders on the left and right, which when closed each seal one outlet opening, and can be opened by means of a control lever, which can be operated from a control platform located on the wagon. The known self-emptying funnel wagons are exclusively usable in rail traffic, and hence do not permit any use in combined traffic. Depending on the cargo, varying requirements are also placed on the discharge chutes; for example, there are types of cargo that do not allow unloading via the usual discharge chutes, since they are too coarse-grained, e.g., in cases involving excavated material from construction sites. Since the known wagons are special wagons, they most frequently offer poor availability, in particular when a higher number of wagons are needed.
For example, a container of the kind mentioned at the outset is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,983 B1. The container suitable for transporting bulk material exhibits several containers that taper like funnels and have floor flaps, which are incorporated in an open steel frame structure. Known from DD 229 095 A1 is a container with a standard design, which exhibits one or more bulk material inserts that are sealed by floor flaps. These floor flaps are provided with an actuating mechanism, so that as the container is being placed on a frame with a clamping bolt, the floor flaps automatically open, and can close again while hoisting.